TWO FILMS FROM SOUTH AMERICA Day 5 at the Tri Continental Film Festival
Tuesday, 29th July 2008 - The tumultuous politics of two countries are examined in today's films from very different perspectives - one public and the other personal. Both concerned with disappearances, it seems. But whereas in the first - in which Cubans will never forget Castro even long after he's gone, in the second - a group of people struggles to remember their loved ones who 'vanished' under the Chilean dictatorship.
The groundbreaking documentary 'With or Without Fidel' directed by Ishmail Blahgrove debates the future direction of the island's 48-year-old revolution. Filmed during the most precarious period in Cuba's history, 'With or Without Fidel' reveals the aspirations and vulnerabilities of a country on the brink of change. Debating the good and bad of the communist regime, the right or wrong of Fidel, one thing clearly emerged - he will never be forgotten. And as much as Che Guevara is the eternal symbol of rebellion, the charismatic Fidel will be remembered as the one leader who unequivocally opposed the U.S. and survived to tell the tale. Many times the memory is mixed with a deep love and many times with a critical anger. A fact, brought up quite often in the film was the Cuban Health System - arguably one of the best National Healthcare Systems in the world. There will be no end to the Communist v/s Capitalist debate, but if there is something actionable we can take out of this documentary it is how to force our government to prioritise our healthcare.
'Reinalda Del Carmen, my Mother and Me' is a triangulated story about memory, friendship, motherhood and women, this film is a telling reflection on loss. Director Lorena Giachino Torrens, whose aging mother has lost her memory, tries to reconstruct the relationship between her mother and an old college friend, and the events surrounding the friend's disappearance during the Chilean dictatorship and repression. This extremely personal story, once again, like many films in this festival seemed to be about the search for the truth in history - where remembering and archiving the past was a starting point to reconciliation and healing. What makes a good documentary, however, is the depiction of different points of view, of different sides to every story and as such we must also explore the possibility of this being true: that what protects Lorena's mother from the hurt of her incredible loss, what allows her to survive is not remembering, but forgetting. (ENDS)
http://www.moviesgoa.org/page/tri_continental/ Goanet A&E http://www.goanet.org
